"ADR" 2003 Obituary

ADRANGI o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-06-27 published
Ontario human-rights pioneer Daniel G.
HILL 3rd dead at 79
By Sahm ADRANGIFriday,June 27, 2003 - Page A8
Daniel G. HILL 3rd, a black civil-rights activist and Ontario's
first human-rights commissioner, died yesterday in a Toronto
hospital of complications from diabetes. He was 79.
Born in Independence, Missouri, Dr.
HILL moved to Canada in the
1950s after serving in the U.S. Army and immediately became one
of Canada's leading voices on racial equality.
He helped establish the Ontario Human Rights Commission in 1962
at the height of the civil-rights movement, and became its first
director.
"Dan had a steadfast commitment to equality that never left him,"
said Alan BOROVOY, a long-time friend of Dr.
HILL and general
counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
"When he started with the human-rights commission it was very
much an experiment. The community was not behind it the way it
is today. But through a combination of toughness, wisdom and
skill, he was able to change the human-rights commission into
a formidable institution; he made it work."
Dr. HILL was the father of singer-songwriter Dan
HILL and novelist
Lawrence HILL, both well known in their own right.
Both artists were deeply affected by their father's passion for
racial equality, according to Lawrence
HILL.
"As artists and human beings, [my brother and I] identify very
much with our parents' struggle, and he's influenced us through
and through," he said.
Dr. HILL is survived by his wife, Donna, and children Dan, Lawrence
and Karen HILL.